Missing Piece
by JellyLollie
Summary: He's hurting for her. She's hurting for him. When will they realize that they're hurting for each other? Modern AU. No Powers.


_He promised to meet her as a favor for Flynn. He didn't expect much. Flynn was an alright guy, but he had been blinded by love, not that his common sense had ever been that great to begin with. They agreed to have dinner together on Friday. She was late, and as he sipped on his glass of sparkling water for over an hour, he started to wonder if she had forgotten their date… Weeks later, he would find out that she had._

* * *

He wraps a towel around his waist as he gets out of the shower. The whole bathroom is warm and white with steam. He wipes a hand across the mirror and stares at his own reflection. The dark circles under his eyes and the uneven stubble covering his jaw make him look half-dead. But he simply can't bring himself to care about his appearance at the moment.

He opens the cabinet, and his hand freezes in mid-air. How did he forget that it was still there? Their toothbrushes mock him, holding each other and forming an 'X' inside that silly Star Wars mug Hiccup gave him once. His is blue. Hers is white. Without giving it a second thought, he takes the white one and throws it in the trash can. It's about damn time he lets go of her.

* * *

_She had had trouble sleeping since she was a teenager. Her brain would just not stop, and she would wake up in the middle of the night, being unable to get back to sleep for hours on end. He noticed the pattern pretty early in their relationship, and at some point, him staying awake with her became a habit of his. He would rest his chin on her shoulder and would soothingly rub her arm with his thumb. He would hum silently in her ear and would plant soft kisses on her hair. Her mind would eventually relax with the calm rhythm of his heartbeat and the warmth of his embrace._

* * *

She pops two pills in her mouth and chugs it down with half a glass of water. She rubs the sleep off her eyes as she waits for the coffee to finish brewing. She checks her watch. Their appointment is at eight, which gives them plenty of time still. So she takes her time sipping her beverage slowly. She's nearly finished her cup before her sister comes downstairs, and when it happens, she can see the exhaustion in her sister's eyes. It makes Elsa's chest tighten to the point she can't breathe.

The whole ordeal is taking a toll on both of them, sure, but sometimes, Anna's bubbly and bright personality makes her an easier target. Anna is an emotional person—has been her entire life. She wears her heart on her sleeve, and it breaks Elsa's heart every time she thinks about the pain her baby sister is going through. Even more so than her own hurt.

She has to watch herself not to let her voice quiver as she greets her sister. She finishes the rest of her coffee and puts the cup in the sink. She looks at Anna decidedly. "Ready to go?"

* * *

_He remembered the first time she rode on the back of his bike. She declined it at first, stating that she esteemed her life too greatly, thank you very much. It took him a whole hour of teasing and a thousand promises to keep her safe for her to finally hop on the bike. She held onto him so tightly that he felt his legs going numb with loss of circulation. As the wind tousled his hair and her arms wrapped around his waist, hands clutching onto the front of his shirt for dear life, he concluded that that wasn't such a bad fate after all._

* * *

He leans back on his chair and stares at the ceiling, groaning in complete boredom. He has nothing to do while he waits for Hiccup to forward him Robert Parr's files. The AC is broken, and the only source of cooling in his cubicle is the tiny USB fan on his desk. He rolls his chair so he is in the wind's direction and closes his eyes as the breeze hits his face. He doesn't know why, but he feels a knot forming in his throat. He breathes out slowly, teeth clenching and fists closing tightly, and he begs silently for Hiccup to send him that goddamn email already.

* * *

_She had to hold her laugh as he fastened that silly LED heart necklace around her neck. He had just found the trinket inside the box of the sugary cereal he ate every morning. She read him the box's nutritional information and promptly called his choice of breakfast an inevitable heart attack in a bowl. But he just rolled his eyes and pulled the toy jewelry out, claiming that getting awesome gifts like that was worth putting his health at risk. Every time he got a new item from the set, he would present it to her in an exaggerated ceremony. Months later, there was only one piece missing in her collection._

* * *

The doctor starts explaining the next procedures of her treatment, and she asks for a moment as she fumbles inside her purse for a pen. There are so many miscellaneous items inside that she wonders when everything has become such a mess. She pulls something out of her bag at random, and her eyes widen. She didn't know she still had that necklace. The pendant is all scratched, the pink color is faded, the battery is long dead. Her eyebrows furrow as she stares at the object.

The doctor clears her throat. "Is something the matter, Ms. Arendelle?"

She shoves the necklace back inside her purse and finally fishes out a pen. "No." She shakes her head. "Everything is perfectly fine."

* * *

_Sometimes, they spent the whole day in bed. She called him lazy, but she made no effort to get up either. He liked it that way. Just the two of them in their little world. Her legs slung over his middle, his hand on her hip while hers caressed the nape of his neck. He could never get tired of it: her touch, her scent, her smile. Her eyes on his as the light in the room dimmed with the golden sunset outside. He loved having her there, simply existing alongside him, and when he was lucky, _ _there she was in his dreams._

* * *

He gets home and drops his keys on the entryway table. He collapses on the nearest stool and holds his head with his hands. He is too exhausted and too hungry to cook anything up, so he decides to pour himself some cereal. He hears an unexpected clank, and there's a tiny ring in the middle of his dinner.

He tries it on, and he laughs when it gets stuck above his finger's middle joint. He roars in laughter, throwing his head back, then he stares at the tiny plastic band as if it's the most amusing thing in the world. He tried so hard to find that ring, and the stupid thing doesn't even fit. After everything, he should've known it would be that way.

* * *

_She didn't know what she expected. Fighting? Arguing? Him being mad at her? Her being mad at herself? She didn't know what she expected, but she surely didn't expect him to be so calm. It had all ended so fast that it made her stomach churn. She told him she had to leave. He asked why. She explained. And that was it. She felt the tears burning to be shed, but she tried her best to hold them in. He walked around her apartment, collecting his belongings, and she watched him from the corner of her eyes. He didn't say anything else, she didn't say anything either. It wasn't until the front door had closed after him that she finally let herself cry._

* * *

Anna tried her best to keep dinner light and fun, but Elsa was too tired to contribute to the conversation. After doing the dishes, Elsa excuses herself back to her room and drops herself on her bed. Burying her face on her pillow, she sniffs in, and the familiar scent of home makes her tear up. She sobs quietly into the soft fabric of the pillowcase, distress and helplessness overwhelming her at last. She cries until exhaustion takes over and sends her into a restless sleep.

She wakes up in the middle of the night with a buzzing in her ears, and she thinks she's hallucinating at first. She tells herself that it was only a dream from her past, but as her mind clears, so does the world around her. And she realizes that the rumbling noise of a motorbike is not a trick of her imagination. Warily, she goes to her window and peeks outside.

She nearly faints at the sight that awaits her downstairs.

* * *

_They were out on a night walk, and neither of them had expected the sudden downpour. They rushed through the dark streets, her discontent cries mixing with his mischievous laughs as rain hit them from all sides. By the time they reached her building, they were both entirely soaked. He had given her his jacket to shield her from the cold, not that it helped much with anything. Her hair stuck to her skin, her nose was scrunched up in annoyance, and she looked so damn tiny inside all that leather that he couldn't stop himself from doing what he did next. He held her face between his hands, thumbs tracing her jawline, gazes locking together, and he kissed her. And as soon as his lips touched hers, he melted. He was so cold, and she was so warm. He would never forget the rush of electricity he felt when he had her in his arms._

* * *

He doesn't know what he's doing. He stares at the front door, trying to figure out what he's going to tell her, but can't settle for a single thought. He's debating if he should leave and come back in the morning, but before he can make up his mind, the door opens, and she's coming outside. And it's ridiculous how she can still take his breath away after all this time.

She's wearing a thick, fluffy, blue robe and matching slippers, her hair is a tangled mess, and he guesses she's just woken up, yet she looks as beautiful as she looked the first time he saw her. Back then, she wore an elegant sequin dress and those goddamn Louboutin shoes she loved so much. In his memory, time seemed to have slowed down as he watched her rushing inside the restaurant, all rushed apologies and red cheeks, as the staff prepared to kick him out.

In the present, she's pale, and small, and she looks like she'll vanish as soon as his eyes close. She stops at a reasonable distance from him as if she's scared of getting any closer. Her arms are wrapped around herself, and her eyes are wide with fear.

"What are you doing here?" she asks.

He closes the space between them, noticing how she struggles to keep herself in place. He says nothing and just thrusts his closed fist in her direction.

She's grimacing as she stares at his hand, and it feels like an eternity until she moves. He opens his hand, letting the plastic ring fall on her palms. She brings her hands closer to herself to inspect the object, and the choked laugh that leaves her lips breaks his heart all over again. She looks up at him questioningly, expectantly.

He shrugs. "It's the one you were missing, right?"

Her lips tremble. "Still eating your daily chances of a heart attack?"

He takes one last step in her direction, and she has to lift her chin to meet his eyes. "Are-are we really over, Elsa?" His voice is so hoarse he can't even recognize it anymore.

She bites her lower lip as if refraining herself from wording her thoughts out loud.

"Please, talk to me."

"I—" The tears start falling before she can let another word out.

He closes his eyes. He wants to hold her more than anything in the world, but he keeps his hands to himself. She cries, and she cries, and he's crying too, but on the inside. His tears silently rip through his soul, tearing his flesh and bones apart.

"I'm sorry," she whispers, and if he hadn't been paying so close attention to her, he would probably have missed it. She steps back and shakes her head. "You shouldn't be here. You can't be here."

The feelings he had been bottling inside rises, and his head spins. "Why not?"

"Because it's not fair!" she shouts, tears running down her face in streams.

"Stop trying to protect me!" he shouts back. "If I want to keep risking having a heart attack every time I have a bowl of goddamn cereal, that's on me." His hands rush to hold her head, resting his forehead against hers. He keeps his eyes on hers all the time, and she's so startled that her crying momentarily stops. Her pulse is frantic against his palms. He swallows the lump in his throat before continuing, "If I want you to be the first person I see when I wake up and the last one I see when I go to sleep, that's also on me."

She closes her eyes. The tears are falling again. "Don't say that."

He leans even closer, lips brushing lightly against hers, breaths mingling together. "I didn't fight for us when we broke up. And I've regretted that ever since." He chuckles weakly and caresses her cheek. "But I will respect your feelings if you tell me to walk away."

He pulls back. His jaw is tight. His eyes are adamant.

"Do you still love me?"

She closes her eyes, wiping away her tears, and as the moment drags on, he's sure he made a mistake. He can't put air in his lungs, and his vision starts to blur. He is about to pass out when he finally hears her exhaling. One of her hands tightens on his shirt.

"Of course I still love you."

He smiles. It's a weak smile, but it's the first time he smiles all night. Maybe the first time he smiles in weeks. He takes the plastic ring from her and shakily holds it at the tip of her finger. "Marry me."

She chortles out, head burying in the crook of his neck. She tries to put on the ring, but as expected, it's too small. She laughs weakly, and he can't help but laugh with her. She looks up at him through her lashes. Her eyes glisten. She's smiling. She's so beautiful. He can't wait to kiss her.

He feels her breath against his skin. The remnants of her tears are drenching his shirt. Her grasp on him is so strong he fears her nails are digging through his flesh. He's so weakened he can barely keep himself up on his feet. He feels short of breath, and maybe he is finally having a heart attack. But he's so happy. The happiest he's been in a long time. And that simple thought makes all the bad things fade in comparison.

She leans on the tip of her toes. Her eyes are teasing. She brings his mouth closer to hers and whispers, "Yes."

And he does it. He finally kisses her.


End file.
